It's the Senior Prom, Charlie Brown
by Me
Summary: Can Charlie Brown find a prom date and be part of the Cinderella Couple as he finishes high school? Prequel to a story completed 8/10, You're a Friend, Charlie Brown


From the author:  
  
I'm concentrating on trying to get published now, so this is the last effort on ff.net for a good while. I may come back to this site once in a while, so keep me on your lists if you have them, while you watch for Doug Fowler as an author of kids' or adolescent books in a year or two or someday, anyway. Thanks to all of you, I've loved having this forum to use to hone my skills. I just feel led to go a different path now, and concentrate on other items. You'll still have a chance to read my stuff, please pray that I can get published. My books will be longer, and much better, than I feel led to do on ff.net right now.  
  
However, one last time, I thought I'd write a story without the massive days of perfecting, and take myself back to the fandom where it all started for me, as a precocious three-year-old reader verbally expanding on his favorite comic strip. And, as with other fandoms, leave the audience with a chance to dream. Thank you all for being there for me, putting up with me, and reading, and God Bless You. If this is the first fic of mine you've read, have fun reading the others, or even letting them inspire you.  
  
Peanuts and indicia are owned by Charles Schulz, "Happy Birthday, Sweet Sixteen" was sung by Neil Sadaka. And now, our feature presentation...  
  
IT'S THE SENIOR PROM, CHARLIE BROWN  
  
"What do you call the person who finishes last in her class in high school?" Linus Van Pelt asked his friend Patty.  
  
Patricia Reichardt - known to many of her friends as Peppermint Patty - was a horrible student. She knew Linus was a very nice person. But, she still sighed and slumped in her seat, just as she had through almost 12 years of D minuses, as if she were about to be the butt of a joke. "What?" she muttered as they ate in the cafeteria.  
  
"A graduate," Linus said excitedly.  
  
Patty nodded slowly as their good friend Charlie Brown sat beside Linus with a tray of ham and potatoes. "Yeah, I guess. But, they won't call her a doctor, or even ask her to the prom."  
  
"Why would they call you a doctor? You're not sick," her friend Marcie said.  
  
Patty shook her head. Marcie asked the craziest questions - although at least she didn't call Patty "Sir" like she had when they were little. "Forget it."  
  
Linus turned expectedly to Charlie Brown, a best friend who was still so blonde he almost looked bald. But, Linus' mind was on a girl that...well, the song had been so fitting when he'd sung it at a party - or done what passed as singing. "When you were only six," he'd sung the previous week, "I was your big brother."  
  
And, that was true. He'd insisted so emphatically that he was not her "sweet babboo" when he was little because he'd always thought she was nice. He didn't want anyone to know that he thought that, though - how embarrassing that would have been when he was eight! No, then he felt like just another big brother. After all, a year plus of age different was a lot back then.  
  
"Then when you were ten, we didn't like each other," Linus had sung.  
  
Yes, there came a stage when Sally had gotten sick of his rejections, and he'd begun to delve so much into other stuff, he had no time to think about girls. But then...  
  
"...When you were thirteen, you were my funny Valentine."  
  
She'd been awkward, and still immature compared to him. She always giggled and just acted silly, and she'd still said such funny things. Although, some of them...well, he swore she said them just to make him laugh. By then, Linus had begun to find that so endearing.  
  
He smiled with sweet surprise. As the years wore on...she'd turned into the prettiest girl he'd ever seen.  
  
"Charlie Brown, I know Sally's only a sophomore. But, well, I know your parents get worried because of all the stories about what some seniors do at the prom or after." He couldn't believe how tongue tied he was getting. "However, I wanted to, well, to make sure, before I asked her, that it would be okay to escort her to the prom."  
  
Charlie Brown smiled thankfully. His mind had been on his own prom worries, not on his sister, Sally. Now, he could concentrate on something else for a change. He could think about that party, for instance. Their friend Schroeder had begun playing the piano and Linus singing just as Charlie Brown and Sally walked in the front door, half an hour late because he'd made a wrong turn. He didn't think the smile would ever wear off of his sister's face after that party. What a fabulous memory!  
  
"Linus, you're right. My folks would be worried about Sally going with just any senior. Especially one who started out a year behind me in school. If it hadn't been for your October birthday they might never have chanced moving you up. But, they know you're special. They know your family; we've been friends forever. I don't think they'd mind at all if you took Sally to the prom." He ignored Linus' excited grin and sighed. "Now, if only I had a date."  
  
Patty cleared her throat. When that failed to get Charlie Brown's attention, she said, "Hey, what about me?"  
  
"That's a good idea, Charlie Brown. Why don't you two go together?" Linus asked. Charlie Brown fidgeted. "Well, I..."  
  
"Come on, Chuck. We'd have lots of fun," Patty said excitedly.  
  
Charlie Brown sighed. He liked Patty as a friend, but he'd always held out hope for someone better; especially for the "little red-haired girl," who he never could get up the nerve to talk to - or, if he did, something strange always happened. Strange and bad.  
  
A week later, Charlie Brown drove his little sister home from school. He'd called and told their folks to allow a special surprise to be prepared. But, he was sullen himself.  
  
"I'm so glad you take me home, big brother," Sally said happily. "I still remember when you were in eighth grade, and you were willing to walk home with me even after you had absent-mindedly stuffed that dissected frog in your pocket because you were so busy thinking about that little red- haired girl."  
  
"Don't remind me," Charlie Brown muttered as he pulled into his driveway.  
  
"Well, the look on your face just reminds me of that. Or, maybe it reminds me of the time you went up to talk to her, and you got so nervous you called her by the wrong name," Sally said.  
  
"It wouldn't have been so bad if it hadn't been MY name," Charlie Brown said. They walked around to the back door. He looked at a tree in his yard - it still had a little piece of kite string hanging from a branch; very old kite string. Beneath it was a little mound with daisies growing on it. His old pal Snoopy was buried there, with another dog named Snoopy, also a beagle, now in - make that on top of - the doghouse. Sally had had the idea of planting the mound of flowers at that site back when Snoopy died, three years ago.  
  
She was such a sweet girl. But, he would probably feel nervous even talking to her, if not for the fact she was his sister. Charlie Brown just had trouble talking to girls, period.  
  
A trail of rose petals lay at the door as they walked inside. "I'm so glad you're around in school yet. Now that I can go on real dates, and not those group outings, since I'm sixteen, you can check on...what's this?" She began to follow the rose petals, with Charlie Brown following behind her.  
  
"Er..." Charlie Brown clapped his hand to his mouth, lest he give something away.  
  
Sally continued to follow the rose petals up to her room. Once up there, she saw two dozen long-stemmed roses on her bed. A note was attached. "Your 'Sweet Babboo' has seen the light, and wants to be with you on Prom Night." Sally seemed to melt onto her bed. She lay with roses at her head, clutching the note to her chest. "Fairy tales do come true," she said dreamily.  
  
Charlie Brown was happy for his sister - however, that disheartened him all the more. His friend Schroeder stepped into the room a moment later. "Hey, Charlie Brown. Looks like your sister's got herself a secret admirer."  
  
"Yeah, Linus just asked her to the prom." They left her room, and walked outside. "How are you and Lucy doing?" "Really well. She and I already worked it out. I'm renting a limo and picking her up."  
  
"A limo? Schroeder, I haven't even found a date." He sighed. "I'm glad you and Lucy are going together, though. She puts the effort into liking Beethoven that not every girl would.."  
  
A less polite youth would have added that he wasn't that desperate to go with Lucy, Linus' older sister. However, instead, Charlie Brown simply remarked, "I know she's matured. Linus had been praying for her for I don't know how long. But, still, now that she wants to go into psychiatry and have her own talk show about it, I'm afraid she'd spend her time analyzing me."  
  
"And charging more than five cents," Schroeder remarked as they sat on the brick wall that they would lean on when they were smaller.  
  
"Don't remind me. She'd still bug me about today."  
  
Schroeder hadn't heard. "What happened?"  
  
"I finally got up the nerve to ask the little red-haired girl about the prom. And, she's been going with our starting quarterback for the last two years."  
  
"Well, Charlie Brown, I'd say you waited more than a little too long."  
  
"Now the whole football team will be mad at me. Even Pigpen won't be able to smooth things over. They'll all say I tried to steal the quarterback's girlfriend," Charlie Brown moaned.  
  
"Charlie Brown, Pigpen is our star runner. All the sportswriters agree, we've brought back the old Woody Hayes tradition. Not just with our title, but that whole 'three yards, and a cloud of dust' thing," Schroeder said, referring to Ohio State's head coach and his motto of years ago.  
  
"Pigpen brings that motto with him to Calculus," Charlie Brown said.  
  
Schroeder said, "True. But, look on the bright side. There are two things that will protect you. He's your friend. And, he has a scholarship to Ohio State, which is more than our quarterback has."  
  
"Pigpen also has a prom date," Charlie Brown muttered. He finally stood resolutely. "Well, I guess there's just one thing to do - go over and ask Peppermint Patty or Marcie to go to the prom with me." And with my luck, he considered, they'll get in a fight over me and I'll feel worse because I didn't choose the one not chosen.  
  
Charlie Brown plucked a nice big rose from his mother's rosebush. He drove to Patty's house, and got out of his car. Just then, Patty and Marcie pulled up in the former's car.  
  
'Chuck, guess what," Peppermint Patty cried as she got out of the car. "The Destrade twins, the ones on the debate team, asked Marcie and me to the prom. Isn't that great, Chuck?" "Oh...yeah." He looked at the flower - it seemed to have magically wilted a little. "Yeah, terrific," he said, mustering a smile. Now, what was he going to do?  
  
Time passed with no luck. Finally, Rerun walked up to him. A freshman, Rerun had placed first in a bicycling competition that year. He longed to compete in the Tour de France - or, as the friends called it as a little inside joke, the "tour de Moon." This was because Sally often confused Lance and Neil Armstrong. Some of Sally's misstatements had been so cute, they'd stuck through the years.  
  
"Charlie Brown," Rerun said as he walked up to him. Charlie Brown, who was waxing his old but still good looking car. "I hear you're still looking for a date for the prom in two weeks."  
  
Charlie Brown and Rerun walked past the car, and sat on the wall. He usually turned to Linus at times like this, but he was working today. "Rerun, why does this prom thing seem to be a popularity contest?"  
  
"It's not just about popularity. Linus got a date really early, after all."  
  
"Only because he knew my sister would have dropped Aaron Carter to go with him."  
  
"Your sister knows Aaron Carter?" Rerun asked skeptically.  
  
"No, I'm just saying that's her attitude. She wasn't connected with anyone from the group outings she'd go on, but even if she had been, her heart's been on Linus since she first saw him walk by with his security blanket one day; that blanket he's got framed now with Billy Graham's autograph and about five Bible verses. She got that puppy love look on her face and started following him.  
  
"Linus is a nice guy, though. He would have gotten a prom date by now, because while he got one near the end of when the 'popular' kids were getting them, he's nice enough to have gotten one when the average kids got them." Charlie Brown held out his hands. "But by now, everyone's taken. My friends all have dates. My sister has a date. I'm thinking even my dog will have a date!"  
  
Just then, he saw his dog walking by with a female beagle - he could swear they were walking straight toward a limousine that was parked along the road.  
  
"He's like the original in more ways than one, huh?" "You said it, Rerun. I'm surprised you're not working at the church camp with your brother and Franklin," Charlie Brown said.  
  
"Actually, I was visiting a friend. Do you know Melanie Blass?"  
  
Charlie Brown thought for a moment. "Yeah," he said with a smile. "She's the girl who goes around in her wheelchair all the time. She's got cerebral palsy, doesn't she?"  
  
"That's right. You know, she doesn't have a date, either."  
  
"Yeah," Charlie Brown said with a sigh, "but at this late of a date, I'll feel like whoever I go with will just be having pity on me. Besides, what is the prom, anyway? It's just a social activity that highlights the school calendar. It's going to make my little sister feel like Cinderella, Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty all in one."  
  
"I think they were all the same. Each husband was named Prince Charming," Rerun said.  
  
"Well, that's true, but regardless. I won't feel bad if I just go with my friends, but without a date."  
  
"You should think about her, Charlie Brown. You never know what the good Lord has in store for you. You've accepted His free gift of salvatin by grace through faith. Be bold in trying your hand at love, too," Rerun said. "Sometimes all it takes is faith."  
  
He sighed as Charlie Brown thought. He was skeptical of Charlie Brown ever finding a real date - and, in a way, of ever finding real love, He was just too shy and unsure. And, just from his year of high school, he sensed that that made Charlie Brown unpopular, even though he was the most friendly, polite kid you could find.  
  
But, maybe that would bode well for him and Melanie. It was worth a shot.  
  
Charlie Brown wasn't quite thinking along those lines. But, he was thinking that Rerun, in his own way, sounded a lot like his older brother, Linus. "Your brother would say the same thing, wouldn't he?"  
  
"It's your prom, Charlie Brown. But, yes, I think Linus would suggest that."  
  
Charlie Brown saw Melanie in the hall several times the next day. He couldn't think of the right thing to say, though. The more complex he made things, the more they would be messed up.  
  
Finally, as they were leaving school, he called out "HI, prom" as he waved to her.  
  
Oh no, he thought. Did I just call her "prom?"  
  
"I-I- mean, well, Melanie, I know you don't...well, I need...that is, if you and I..."  
  
Melanie laughed. "I'm still thinking about having the name of 'prom.' That's a funny one. I read this book once where a girl wanted to ask a guy to the football game, and so she walked up to him and call him a football."  
  
"That would be me. I'd call someone football. Then I'd probably wind up flat on my back," he muttered, thinking of all the times Lucy had pulled the ball away from him.  
  
"So, were you going to ask me to the prom?" she wondered.  
  
"Well, yeah. I mean, you'd like to go, right?" Boy , this is turning out to be easy, he thought.  
  
"Gee, I'm sorry. But, just today a guy I know in science asked me. He's a real bookworm, but his mom had been urging him to go, so he'd been asking people for a few days," she said sorrowfully. "But, I'm sure you'll find someone."  
  
"Yeah, thanks," he muttered as she rolled away. "Even the geeks get dates before me," he said, hanging his head.  
  
The high school had a tradition. There was a prom court chosen beforehand, like elsewhere. But then, on prom night, one special couple was selected - voted on by the attendees, minus the Court and eligible couples - to join. They were then featured in the school paper's annual prom issue, as the "Cinderella story." The list of couples was narrowed by a committee of advisors once all tickets had been sold, or a couple days before the prom. The vote combined romance, happy ending, and so on. It allowed for those who weren't that popular before, those who wouldn't be expected, or who perhaps had even come alone and met during the Prom, to have the glamor of that night elevated as the Cinderella Couple.  
  
Charlie Brown gazed at the last two prom tickets in the Yearbook Office, where the tickets were sold. He picked one up, waited at the desk to purchase it, and stared at the lone remaining one. He muttered, "There's nothing in the world more lonely than a single prom ticket."  
  
"Chuck, what are you doing here?" The voice was Peppermint Patty's. "Just thinking about the fact my sister has a date and I don't. My dog even has a date."  
  
"Your dog? That is a bummer." She frowned. "Well, I guess things aren't too good with Marcie and I, either. Not only can't we tell the Destrade twins apart, they can't tell us apart. Except they know I'm the girl with the big nose," she moaned.  
  
"Peppermint Patty...I'm just afraid if I took you, Marcie would get jealous, and vice versa."  
  
"Chuck, those twins just argue about everything. I want a romantic night. Have you bought your ticket yet?" He shook his head. "Well, buy it. There's a junior with a crush on Marcie that she went to France with for the summer last year with the French Club. He said he'll go. He's coming to get his ticket later today."  
  
Charlie Brown sighed. "I'd been hoping that Melanie could go with me. So much for the Cinderella Story, huh?"  
  
"Hey, the twins are going to a different prom now, anyway. They got invited to another school's prom. What do you say we put our names in as a couple, and see what happens," Patty said. Charlie Brown agreed.  
  
Charlie Brown and Peppermint Patty were out on the dance floor. "This is turning into a beautiful evening, isn't it," Charlie Brown said.  
  
"It is. I like dancing with you, Chuck."  
  
"Your dad's right; you really are a rare gem," Charlie Brown remarked. "It had to be hard growing up without a mom, but still, you've managed to...I mean..."  
  
Patty sighed. "Chuck, don't spoil the romance of the moment by moving your lips."  
  
Lucy ran up to them. "Well, this might be your night. They're getting ready to add the Cinderella Story to the court. I hear you're really close." She sighed. "I never thought I'd say this, but I hope you win."  
  
"Thanks, Lucille," Patty said before turning to Chuck. "I guess the twins were good enough debaters to convince people to vote for us. Marcie and me suggested they do that."  
  
"You mean they figured out how to tell you apart?"  
  
"No, actually, they'd been telling people to vote for the girl with the nose," she deadpanned. "But, it is a potential victory. And, people do like my skating; I have lots of talent there, anyway. And, maybe it's fitting. I like you, Chuck; I always have." Schoeder smiled as he led Lucy toward an open spot where they could dance. "I guess music does have charms to soothe, huh? Linus' prayers worked, but I think Beethoven had something to do with it, too," he joked, speaking of Lucy's former crabbiness.  
  
Charlie Brown followed their path, then turned to his date. He felt the same adrenaline rush he'd felt during ball games, or while flying a kite. It was a surge of energy that, no matter how many times he'd failed, told him to keep trying. "Come on, Patty! Maybe we'll win it all for once!" Charlie Brown and Peppermint Patty rushed toward the stage. He might actually win something! He jogged right up to it...  
  
...then felt his hand tear away from hers, jarred by the momentum. He'd forgotten about the step. The next thing he knew, a domino effect had occurred. He'd sent the vocalist sprawling. The vocalist knocked down the bass player, who knocked down the Prom King. Soon, most of the band and the Prom Court was on the ground. The promgoers began laughing like fools.  
  
"Rats," Charlie Brown said beneath the pile. As they got up slowly, he said, "I don't believe it."  
  
Finally, Charlie Brown and Peppermint patty were looking out into the audience from the stage. "The votes are really close," one band member whispered. "But, you're just ahead of the next closest couple, and the balloting is almost closed."  
  
Charlie Brown gazed dreamily at the audience as he and Peppermint Patty held hands. He noticed the little red-haired girl, cuddling with her boyfriend, and sighed. He hadn't gotten her. But, he'd gotten someone. "I wonder who's second?"  
  
"Maybe Melanie and her date," Peppermint Patty suggested as she pointed to them. "They do make a nice couple. And, I'm glad she could come."  
  
Charlie Brown nodded. Melanie deserved it, too. But, the way the night was going, there was certain to be a happy ending. Two lovable losers, who had messed up in so many things, were having the night of their lives. Who needed the Destrade twins' arguing skills? People knew he was a nice, but very shy, kid.  
  
Peppermint Patty could sense it too. It was the same thrill she got when hearing the crowd cheer at ice shows.  
  
The prom king signaled for quiet, and received a slip of paper with the winners' names. He made the announcement. "Hear ye, hear ye, it is with great pride that I give to you this year's Cinderella Couple and announce as the addition to the Prom Court..."  
  
Charlie Brown inhaled deeply and grinned.  
  
"...Linus Van Pelt and Sally Brown." "What?" Charlie Brown stared as Linus and Sally strolled up to the stage, arm in arm, to the sound of Disney's "Cinderella" theme. Sally was crying, and even Linus seemed to be weeping tears of joy. Charlie Brown and Peppermint Patty frowned and got off stage as the spotlight shown on the prom's Cinderella Couple.  
  
They didn't see Marcie until she was right next to him. "Hey, Charles. Isn't this great?" she said with a huge grin.  
  
"Yeah, it is," he mumbled.  
  
"We were waiting till the last minute to cast our ballots," Marcie said. "My date wanted to vote for you," she told Peppermint Patty.  
  
"What do you mean, wanted to?" Patty asked, incredulous.  
  
Marcie continued as the theme played through and the Prom Court in total was introduced. "Well you see, we knew you didn't have a chance. I said 'Why give them a sympathy vote. We hear Linus and Sally are just a vote behind, and what better gift for our friend Charles than to see his sister and best friend win.' I mean, that's what this award is all about. A little girl to us, just a sophomore, one who just had her 'Sweet Sixteen' a few months ago. She gets asked by the boy she's had her eye on forever, and comes to this glorious, grown-up event while girls a year older than her struggle to get dates for the Junior Ball. That's just the way I plan to write the front page story for the school paper," Marcie concluded with a smile, ignorant of Peppermint Patty's and Charlie Brown's incredulous looks.  
  
"...And finally, our Cinderella Couple," the emcee was saying. "Linus plans to go to Moody Bible Institute and major in medical missions. Sally says she plans to be a nurse, and that she plans to follow him to Illinois in two years. They say it's going to be hard to have a long-distance relationship, and they're committed to writing each other ever day. Sally says that'll be a lot easier now that there's e-mail, but that Linus is one person even she wouldn't mind writing for." Chuckles rose from the convention center.  
  
"So, who do you think was second?" Marcie wondered aloud. "And, why were you up on stage?"  
  
"Never mind," Charlie Brown said as they walked slowly away.  
  
Linus, Sally, Charlie Brown, and Peppermint Patty gathered under the stars near a bonfire with twelve other friends. These four were seated off to the side.  
  
"I'm sorry, Charlie Brown. If we'd been able to vote, I would have voted for you and Peppermint Patty," Linus admitted.  
  
"Me too, big brother." Sally kissed Linus. He didn't mind at all. He was really caught up in the romance of the evening. "We've got lots of time to do other great things together," she said as they snuggled.  
  
"Yeah. You do. I couldn't be happier for you." Charlie Brown frowned.  
  
"Why do you look so down?" Peppermint Patty asked.  
  
"Oh, tonight was just supposed to be so great. I mean, I'm happy for all my friends, but it's just like it always has been. Everyone's got something great going but me. Tonight was nice, but...I didn't give you a Cinderella story or anything," he said regretfully.  
  
"Chuck, that's not true." She gazed into his eyes. "You remember what my dad always said. He hoped the man I love will treat me as his rare gem, just like he did. And you did tonight, Chuck. You treated me with class, with dignity...and all that while having half a dozen people piling on top of you."  
  
"Yeah, but it wasn't that great, was it? I mean, how could it be?"  
  
"Chuck, I asked myself the same thing. How would it be? I figured whoever I went with, this big nose, my lousy grades, everything would count against me. But, I felt something tonight. I felt like this was the start of something wonderful. Because, I felt the same love and warmth my dad showed - a love that cared for me no matter what." She sighed. "With the way my grades have been, you know he had to love me a lot."  
  
Charlie Brown smiled as he gazed into the romantic sky. Maybe that was his problem. He was trying to compare himself to others, rather than to himself like Patty was doing to herself.  
  
Still, the future seemed so bright for the couples next to him. "You know, it'll be years, but I can almost hear the wedding bells now for Linus and Sally, just like for Lucy and Schroeder."  
  
Charlie Brown looked lovingly at Peppermint Patty. And, as they let the splendor work its wonders, they drew closer. And, he would recall years later, maybe he first heard his own, too, at that moment.  
  
"I've always been such a loser, I felt like love would never come. But, when I think about just us, and not them, I think you're right. We had a touch of it tonight." They kissed.  
  
"Sure. Love is about what's inside," Peppermint Patty said after a moment. "And, from the baseball and the kite-eating trees and all that, and how you persevere, I think you've got something very special inside."  
  
"Thanks. You've got great skating talent, and a wonderful personality to overcome all those D minuses. You've got something special too, Patty."  
  
Charlie Brown and Peppermint Patty held hands, gazed into the night sky, and dreamed. 


End file.
